Motoring chiefs call for supermarkets to cut price of fuel by 5p per litre

In June this year, the RAC said nine out of ten UK motorists felt they were "sitting ducks" for the Treasury, which collects more than £40 billion a year in taxes on fuel and road duty.Photo: ANDREW CATTERALL/ALAMY

The RAC said recent reductions in costs - following signs of a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis - should be pushed through to the nation's forecourts "in full".

Wholesale costs for unleaded have come down by as much as 6p per litre since the end of August, but so far only Asda has lowered its prices, in a cut of "up to" 2p per litre last week.

RAC spokesman Pete Williams said: "If fuel retailers want the public to fully trust they are operating fairly and transparently they should reflect the drop in wholesale prices immediately by cutting prices by up to 5p a litre for unleaded and 2p a litre for diesel.

"Motorists are very aware that prices seem to go up faster than they come down so this really is the time for the fuel retail industry to demonstrate that that's not the case."

The call followed predictions from the Petrol Retailers Association that pump prices should come down by as much as 4p per litre, over the next month.

Asda's price cuts took unleaded at its forecourts down to a maximum of 133.9p with diesel at 138.9p per litre. Across the UK, unleaded averages 138.8p per litre with diesel at 142.88p.

Today's push by the RAC came as the rate of inflation dropped to 2.7 per cent from 2.8 per cent in July. The official figures put the drop down to a slower increase in petrol prices and air fares in August than the same month last year.

Inflation as measured by the broader Retail Prices Index rose from 3.1 per cent to 3.3 per cent.

In June this year, the RAC said nine out of ten UK motorists felt they were "sitting ducks" for the Treasury, which collects more than £40 billion a year in taxes on fuel and road duty.

Some 77 per cent of motorists claimed they were struggling to make ends meet because of the soaring cost of fuel.